Part of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal closed since an explosion aboard a barge last week was reopened Jan. 24 by the Coast Guard.
A 1,500-foot stretch of the canal west of the Cicero Avenue bridge was reopened based on results of a hydrographic survey conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers.
"After carefully examining the survey data provided by the Army Corps of Engineers, we have verified that the previously closed section ... is safe for navigation," said Wayne Reed, a Coast Guard spokesman.
The canal remains closed between the Cicero Avenue bridge and the Chicago Belt Railway bridge.
Reopening this portion of the canal will benefit a handful of businesses that barges have been unable to reach since Wednesday, when a barge exploded near the Cicero Avenue bridge.
More than 170 barges use the waterway each week to haul coal, scrap metal, gravel and salt to businesses along the route, Reed said.
The barge was hauling 14,000 barrels of clarified slurry oil when the explosion occurred Jan. 19th.
Egan Marine Co. of Lemont, which owns the barge, has declined to comment about the incident.
The barge was about three miles from its destination when the explosion happened. Daily Southtown (Illinois)